


i can assure you that

by ceae



Series: university drabbles [2]
Category: Our Life: Beginnings & Always (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27911755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceae/pseuds/ceae
Summary: Admittedly, Baxter wasn’t really used to her being quiet, but the silence enveloping them was not awkward like he initially anticipated—he was pleasantly surprised to find himself at complete ease in her company, wordlessly basking in the peacefulness of the night.or, four times Baxter and Jamie pick up each other's habits.
Relationships: Baxter Ward/Main Character | Jamie Last (Our Life)
Series: university drabbles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2044810
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	i can assure you that

_i. he tucks his thumbs to his pockets_

The moment Jamie and Cove met Baxter, one of the first things she noticed aside from his eccentric appearance was the way he kept his hands to himself, mainly when he wasn’t exchanging pleasantries with somebody else.

She observed the newcomer’s movements as he shook hands with Cove, then immediately tucked his thumbs into his pockets. The action appeared instinctual to Jamie, as if Baxter wasn’t even aware of doing it that time unless someone—either her or Cove—would call him out, but Jamie highly doubted that Cove would focus on something as mundane as their new neighbor’s thumbs.

“My parents picked the wrong street, considering you two live here.” Baxter eyed Jamie and Cove with interest, fingers rhythmically tapping against his thighs. At that time, Jamie’s mind was wandering on how Baxter’s hand positioning looked oddly uncomfortable, though she also shared the same confusion with Cove on Baxter’s forwardness.

After some more exchanges, Baxter bid them goodbye and left to unpack his belongings. Cove shot a wry smile to her way as Baxter disappeared from their view. “I wonder how I’ll explain him to dad.”

“Mr. Holden better see for himself.” Jamie giggled, taking the opportunity to slide her thumbs to her pant pockets when she heard a click of the door from Baxter’s direction—not that she was intending to copy him, she was just genuinely curious on how he was able to maintain such an awkward position throughout the conversation. Probably one of the perks of being a dancer, she thought to herself.

Cove glanced down to her hands. He was completely familiar with his childhood friend’s habits, including the way Jamie would shift her weight to the right foot with a hand placed on her left hip when she stood. Despite seeing Jamie almost every single day, her hands resting in her pockets was definitely an unusual sight to him. He raised a questioning eyebrow as if to ask what brought about the change in mannerisms—Cove’s inquisitive gaze prompted a few moments of silence before he decided to drop the question, picking up the conversation where they left off.

After their first meeting with the new neighbor, Jamie found herself wearing more outfits that had pockets, particularly for her thumbs to slip into—she had no special reason to continue doing it, but there was no harm done, so she did nothing to stop the habit that was slowly growing into her.

The only time Jamie discovered how much the habit invaded her system was when she went shopping with Lee, subconsciously sliding her hands over her skirt a few times only to realize that she had no pockets, earning an amused grin from Lee.

She mentally blamed Baxter for making her develop that habit, albeit lightheartedly.

* * *

_ii. she is affectionate to dogs_

“You are a good boy, Gil!” Jamie gushed with a high-pitched voice that Baxter only heard whenever she came across a dog. He stood behind her as she scratched the ears of the beagle.

Sometimes, Baxter and Jamie see Gil wandering around the neighborhood in their morning strolls. They assumed at first that he was a stray, but the dog tag and his perfectly groomed appearance said otherwise. The dog was quite spoiled by his owner—the both of them only met Gil’s owner a few times, who was completely fine with Baxter and Jamie coming over her apartment to visit him. They accepted the offer, but never really had the time to visit, so they only had the chance to see Gil in the early mornings.

Baxter kneeled down to the pavement next to her, and Jamie tentatively stopped scratching Gil’s ears to give Baxter a chance to dote on the dog. Baxter ran gentle strokes on top of Gil’s head with the tips of his fingers while looking back on how he used to not be touchy around dogs.

Baxter didn’t hate dogs, he actually was quite fond of them—the only thing that was barring him from even touching them was his tendency to keep his hands to himself. It took him a lot of coaxing from Jamie before he finally became comfortable enough to initiate physical contact with dogs. In one way or another, he was grateful to her, even if it was for something as typical as petting dogs.

Jamie’s body deflated as she heaved a heavy sigh, eyeing Gil with longing. “I really want to adopt a dog…”

Baxter ruffled Gil’s fur, earning him a lick on the wrist. “Surely you would do that in a heartbeat if our dorm allowed pets.”

“It sucks.” She pouted as she crossed her arms. Another sigh. “Mom and Ma did not allow us to get pets either. I understand why they always say no, but still.”

A sympathetic hum rumbled from Baxter’s throat, giving Gil a final pat on the head before he carried the dog to Jamie’s arms. The frown etched on her features eased up when she cradled Gil, “By the way, have I ever told you about Liz taking care of a lizard?”

Baxter shot an intrigued look to her way, an eyebrow slightly raised in question. “This is the first time I’m hearing this, please do tell if you’d like. I’m interested.”

A chuckle escaped Jamie’s lips from Baxter’s sudden curiosity, clearing her throat to indulge him. “So basically, Liz locked herself up in her room. She only went downstairs for mealtime, but she was also in a rush to get back into her room. Mom and Ma didn’t really mind, though.” Jamie turned to him, Gil still in her arms. “That night, Ma went to her room so she could call Liz for dinner. That’s when we all found out that she snuck in a lizard and was feeding it...”

Baxter blinked. Jamie’s sister did not strike him as someone that impulsive. Baxter could see why she would do something like that, though—Elizabeth had it in her to be spontaneous at times. Jamie continued, “They brought the lizard out to the wild after that, and Liz got so mad she ignored everyone. Especially me!” Jamie rolled her eyes, feigning annoyance to Liz from ignoring her years ago. Jamie’s gaze was distant, shining in hilarity and fondness from the memory.

She was so absorbed in remembering the past that she failed to notice Baxter’s expression perfectly mirroring hers, how the unexpected tenderness found its way to his face as he watched her softly, a small smile gracing his lips.

* * *

_iii. he has odd music tastes_

Every time Baxter offered Jamie a ride, she always rejected his offer for control of the AUX cord.

“Are you sure?” Baxter prodded. His tone was carefully calculated to not sound pushy, even though he could already hear her response coming from a mile away. It didn’t hurt to ask.

“Yup.” Jamie nodded and put on her seatbelt, as per usual. The repetitive little exchange between them always ended up with Baxter plugging his phone to the AUX cord connected to the car, mumbling a defeated “Very well”.

Surprisingly, not once had she commented on his music tastes. Not even a compliment or an insult, she just treated the existence of his playlist as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Baxter assumed that she didn’t pay attention to what song was playing as long as they didn't have to suffer with the unbearable silence in the drive.

Jamie never told him anything about her song preferences. His only way of learning about it was the faint melodies spilling out of Jamie’s earphones whenever they studied in the cafe, the latter completely unaware of her volume bar being high enough that anyone within a very close proximity would be able to pick it up. Baxter never felt the need to bring up the matter to Jamie however, because it wasn’t really a big deal and it didn’t bother him that much.

Their song preferences were on the opposite sides of the spectrum, so it was highly unlikely that she’d listen to something remotely close to his music tastes. The only exception was that one time Baxter had an inkling on the oddly familiar tune from her earphones—he didn't ask Jamie about it, choosing to remain silent as he dropped whatever he was doing and zeroed in on the song. It wasn’t until she whispered the lyrics under her breath when his eyes widened from his suspicions clearing up.

It was a screamo he often played in the car.

He normally would’ve been overjoyed by Jamie finally starting to share the same music tastes if it weren’t for her whispers growing louder, headbanging as her face contorted to exaggerated aggravation. It was so out of character of her to do that, he bit his cheek and looked away in a feeble attempt to stifle his laughter from the unexpected turn of events—that was a sight he never expected to witness in his entire life. 

Upon noticing Baxter’s amusement, she hastily tore the earphones away from her ears, heat creeping to her cheeks. “Was I… too loud?”

“You weren’t disturbing the other customers, I can assure you that.” Baxter answered, but the glint in his eyes said otherwise. He then joked with a playful grin, not bothering to hide the teasing lilt in his voice, “Looks like I am rubbing off on you.”

Jamie made no move to deny what he said, burying her flushed face to her hands. It occurred to him that his joke struck close to home.

* * *

_iv. she laughs genuinely_

Baxter always got caught off-guard whenever Jamie’s laughs escaped her lips—he compared her unrestrained and natural laughs to his own, subtle and sometimes forced. He was in awe of the way she practically glowed in unbridled joy whenever she found something hilarious, and he subconsciously wondered if he would ever experience a laugh as candid as hers.

There was one particular night. His computer blue-screened just as he was about to finish his write-up, and he needed to turn it in a few hours. To his luck, Jamie was still awake, so he asked her if he could come over to her dorm room at two in the morning to borrow her computer, to which she agreed.

Only the continuous clicking of the keyboard filled the silence in Jamie’s dorm room. It’s probably the drowsiness that made her a lot less chatty than usual, Baxter mentally noted. Even while knowing that, he never would’ve thought that being with Jamie in the ungodly hours of the morning was so… calming.

Baxter somehow grew used to her doing almost all of the talking whenever they hung out. Admittedly, Baxter wasn’t really used to her being quiet, but the silence enveloping them was not awkward like he initially anticipated—he was pleasantly surprised to find himself at complete ease in her company, wordlessly basking in the peacefulness of the night.

Then a pillow hit his back.

Baxter tensed up in surprise when Jamie broke down into a fit of giggles. He turned the swivel chair to face her, “Jamie, I’d like to ask wh—”

A pillow to his face. Then another. 

Baxter shook his head from Jamie’s antics. She may be less talkative at two in the morning, but she was still cheeky. Jamie was sprawled on her bed as she watched him bend down to grab the pillows on the floor, grinning smugly, and for some reason he couldn’t place a finger on, he had the urge to wipe that grin off her face.

Baxter had no clue why his mind entertained such a childish thought, but he allowed his impaired judgment from lack of sleep to get the best of him. Running to Jamie’s bed, he thwacked her face with all the pillows she threw at him.

“ _That’s not fair!_ ” Jamie gasped dramatically and bursted out in laughter. Baxter raised his eyebrows mischievously at her, moving the pillows out of her face to let the poor girl breath, “And what exactly is not fair, mind to clarify?”

Jamie crossed her arms in mock indignation, her shoulders shaking in mirth. “The rules say one pillow at a time, Baxter! You’re not supposed to use _three_ at once!”

“Oh.” He blinked. “I wasn’t aware that there were rules.”

“It’s obviously a joke! Go along with me, will you?”

Without warning, Baxter doubles over Jamie’s bed with peals of laughter—he absolutely had no idea what he found so funny. His sleepiness was making his mind muddled, he was getting too comfortable with Jamie to the point that the defenses he always built up will only break down and become mush in her presence.

At that moment, it dawned to him how much he brought down his guard around her like it was second nature. The realization did funny things to his chest, and he didn’t mind the feeling one bit. It wasn’t unpleasant.

As his laughter eventually died down, a yawn escaped his lips as he glanced at Jamie, the lamp by her nightstand lighting up the contours of her exhausted features. She smiled warmly at him, and the only thing he could think about was how his laugh resembled hers—carefree, genuine.

**Author's Note:**

> salutations!
> 
> some of these were actually real life experiences. i started to laugh in a way that's similar to my friend, and some people i knew started to love dogs more because i gush about them quite often. it made writing this more enjoyable, in a way.
> 
> kudos and comments are not needed, but every single one of them is appreciated! i also love to chat, so feel free to drop by the comments if you'd like to :D
> 
> thank you so much for reading! it means a lot c:


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